


A Butterfly Flapping It's Wing in Soleanna

by Yosu



Series: Cuckoo's Nest AU [2]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: AU - What if Maria survived instead of Shadow?, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 Video Game), Team Dark (Sonic the Hedgehog) - Freeform, Trans Male Character, Trans male Silver the hedgehog
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:34:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24275155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yosu/pseuds/Yosu
Summary: “The butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.”[ Sonic 06 AU/Rewrite, sequel to ‘One Flew Out of the Cuckoo’s Nest’ ]
Relationships: Gold the Tenrec & Silver the Hedgehog, Maria Robotnik & Rouge the Bat, Mina Mongoose/Miles "Tails" Prower, Princess Elise/Sonic the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat/Topaz (Sonic X)
Series: Cuckoo's Nest AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735987
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. A Boy’s Dream of an Absolution, a Girl’s New Venture

**Year: 2020**

**YOUNG PSYCHIC, SILVER - 00; THE FOOL**

* * *

Silver world was devastated just as he was born, 14 years ago. 

A harsh, cold and bleak place, where the world lives in eternal darkness. Life is a constant struggle, and people live without hope. There weren't even that many people around, only a small handful of people living in the ruins of the sacred city of Soleana. The last remnants of humanity referred to themselves as the Freedom Fighters, living in the abandoned lab of the madman Dr. Eggman. 

And Silver is one of the last humans on earth. 

Which isn’t even completely true, as he wasn’t even fully human. He was a half mobian-half human (called a  _ gijinka _ , according to his adopted father), which led to him looking more… human. He still, however, had ears and a tail. Silver ‘mobian species’ was hedgehog -- so his hair was 50% quill and 50% human hair.

(The last  _ full blooded _ human was the kind old Mr. Tinker… and the last person that  _ resembled  _ a human was a mysterious and shy woman named Shahra.)

Regardless of all of that, Silver had one question on his mind.

_ How did this happen?  _

The Freedom Fighters would never answer him directly. But they -- primarily, his adopted parents; Miles and Mina Prower -- always just pointed... to the cold flames that engulfed the city.

He wandered the decimated city of Soleanna, keeping himself away from the fires with his psychokinesis. Silver had these powers since birth, his adopted mother said he had inherited his intense powers from his biological mother -- who had immense chaos energy powers.

A tornado of flames swirled up before Silver, catching him off guard. He’s dealt with this before, after years of training with some of the Freedom Fighters - he used a psychokinetic blast to clear the flames in front, suppressing it -- killing the flame.

The flames. 

All they do is coldly burn away at his world destroying everything in their path. They come from an eternal life form that no one cannot truly defeat. 

The Flames of Disaster... known only as the ifrit of man, Iblis.

From what he does know -- from what the adults in the F.F. called the ‘before times’, Iblis managed to ravage the world in the span of a single year.

“Silver!” He heard a name call out.

He wiped his body around and saw one of the younger members of the Freedom Fighters… that being Blaze, the last living princess of the Soleanna Kingdom -- adopted by the former queen, Elise. 

**PRINCESS OF SOLEANNA, BLAZE - 02; HIGH PRIESTESS**

Silver zoomed up to the feline princess, her purple fur looking dull against the red and burning city. “Blaze, what's wrong?”

“He's appeared again!”

‘He’... probably meaning Iblis.

Well. Time to get to work.

* * *

Iblis was an immortal being. But, thanks to Silver’s powers, it could be defeated… momentarily.

The young psychic laid on the chilled ground, his back hurting and his nose broken from being slammed into a wall one too many times. 

He sat up weakly, thanking his psychic powers for healing him slowly. He rubbed his bloodied nose, feeling bones go into pace extremely slowly.

Blaze sighed, helping Silver up. “Looks like we stopped it for now.”

Silver shook his head, as he pulled himself from Blaze -- going toward one of the chilled yet destroyed building walls. “But, it'll just rise up from its ashes again.” He slammed his fist into the brick wall behind him, in frustration. “What's the point of all this? It just never ends!”

“Calm down, Silver.” Blaze said softly. 

“Then tell me what we should do. How can we completely destroy Iblis?” Silver asks, exasperated. “ _ No one knows if it’s even possible.  _ It’s… no use.” 

Blaze closes her eyes, looking unsure.

“...By knowing the truth, of course, it’s extremely possible.” A deep, masculine voice boomed behind them.

Silver glanced around, looking for the voice before… looking up.

Standing above them was a rail thin woman, with short pale blonde hair. The woman wore a gray body-suit with a heart shaped breastplate, with white boots and opera gloves. She had radar-dish ears, as well wings… was she a bat, like his godmother -- Rouge? In fact, the woman seemed similar to Rouge...

From what Silver could make out she… also seemingly didn’t have a mouth. In general, the visitor seemed other worldly.

The woman jumped down to Silver’s level. She… really didn’t have a mouth, huh. And her wings looked… like it was a part of her hair. 

“I am Mephistopheles the Azazel.” said the woman as she blinked. For a woman she had an immensely deep voice… it almost sounded  _ too  _ deep but… it’s not like Silver could judge her for that, and it’s not like that’s even a bad thing.

“But please… call me Mephiles.”

_ Mephiles - 14; The Temperance _

Silver stepped back, putting himself in front of Blaze. “Alright… Mephiles.”

Mephiles stood there… just staring at him. Her eyes were blank -- a stone cold gray, with no visible pupil. And… she didn’t even seem to breathe. “If you want to know the truth,” She said, tilting her head, “Come to the abandoned Castle of Soleana this night.” She finished as she walked away.

“Well.” Blaze said softly. 

Silver rubbed his nose… it still hurt like hell.

“Don’t  _ ever  _ do that again!” Mina berated Silver. “You could've gotten yourself killed!”

**FREEDOM FIGHTER, MINA PROWER - 17; THE STAR**

Silver blushed. When he arrived back at base, with a dried bloody nose -- his adopted mother was not pleased.

Mina Mongoose was a short woman, with yellow fur with a purple bob cut. At one point, she was a sniper for G.U.N. -- however, around the apocalypse, she was blinded. However, at the moment, she was  _ very  _ frustrated. “You’re 14, Silver. You can’t just… go out and fight Iblis!”

“I have these powers for a reason!” Silver argued. “I can’t just stay here while other people get hurt! People who  _ don’t  _ have powers!”

“I know that! You don’t think I…!” Mina gave a sigh. “I know how you feel… I feel like it’s something you inherited from your mother… and me.”

Silver tilted his head. “What… do you mean?” He paused. “Why’re you talking about yourself in the third person… twice?”

The room they were in was his mother’s room -- aka, Eggman’s former captains room. His mother sighed and walked towards the battered red dresser. 

“No…” She said, opening one of the drawers and pulling a photograph. “Your biological mother, I mean. ”

“My… original mom.” He said awkwardly. “You rarely talk about her.”

Mina walked towards Silver. “Because she was considered  _ too  _ dangerous for society… she was blamed for the Flames of Disaster.” She paused. “Before she was arrested by G.U.N., she…” Another pause. “...gave birth to you.”

Mina showed Silver the photograph. It was a photo of a blonde woman with red-tipped hair, with red eyes. She was… smiling, holding a baby in her arms -- close to her chest.

“That’s my mother?”

Mina nodded. “Yes…” She paused. “Please, please don’t risk your life like she did. Like  _ I  _ did...” 

“I... I see.” Silver mumbled.

Mina hugged Silver, patting him on the back. “Now, go clean yourself up. It’s getting late.”

He exited the room, rubbing his nose. Silver breathed in, a bit frustration. Despite Mina’s warnings… he  _ had  _ to do something about Iblis. If his mother was to blame for this… as her son, Silver  _ had  _ to fix this.

As he walked, Silver felt a tug on his long, silver-white quill. He looked behind him and it was… Cream, a tiny rabbit girl wearing a tattered vermillion dress with an equally tattered collar and thick white socks -- and, who was only around 6 years old. 

She was born a couple years into the apocalypse, however, at the cost of her mother, Vanilla… 

“Cream?” He questioned, kneeling down to the small girl’s level. “What are you doing up this late?”

The tiny rabbit let go of his quill. “Waiting for you.” She paused. “You were supposed to tuck me in tonight. You promised.”

_ Crap. _

Silver felt embarrassed. He promised her… well, Silver hoped Mephiles could wait. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Cream.”

“It’s ok…” The rabbit mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes. “You were probably busy with something important, anyways.”

**SWEET LITTLE GIRL, CREAM - 00; LA FOI (THE FAITH)**

Silver picked the tiny rabbit up, which wasn’t all that hard -- Cream was quite thin. “Don’t rub your eyes, it’ll get you sick.”  _ And we barely have anything to deal with it.  _

“I’m sorry,” She yawned. “My eyes felt tired…”

Silver smiled. “It’s ok.” He paused. “I understand… just, don’t it, ok?”

He walked towards the tiny rabbit’s room -- which wasn’t exactly her room, but more or less a common room for children. Filled the room were cotts of dozen sleeping kids. 

Silver breathed in, going silent. It was… god, so depressing. He could vaguely hear a kid sobbing in their sleep. 

He put Cream in a free cott, tucking her in with a gray-white blanket. “Do you need me to read you a story?” Silver whispered to the small rabbit.

The rabbit shook her head. “No,” Cream paused. “I don’t want to bother you. But… could you get me Cheese?”

Cheese was a plush chao toy -- made of blanket scraps that Blaze made for the rabbit when Cream was around three. Ever since the rabbit received the gift, the two were inseparable.

“Of course.” Silver said with a smile, walking towards a bookcase filled with toys belonging to various kids.

He grabbed the chao toy, and walked back to the nearly sleeping rabbit. “Here he is!” He said softly, giving it to the little girl.

The rabbit smiled sleepily, taking the doll from him. “Thank you.” Snuggling into her chao doll. “Good night, Silver.”

“Good night to you, Cream.” Silver said softly to the little girl, as he smiled back. “And… it’s no problem.” He replied, patting her on the head before standing up. 

He exited the room closing the door softly -- careful not to wake any kids up. As he faced away from the door, he was greeted by Blaze. 

“I… hey.” He waved awkwardly. “I had to… help Cream go to bed. Sorry.”

Blaze smiled softly, before her looking at Silver sternly. “It’s ok, Silver, but… we should get going.” The princess replied, grabbing Silver. That made him… blush a little bit. “That… _woman,_ Mephiles, should be waiting for us.”

Silver thought about Cream, the little girl broken by this hellscape of a world. He thought about his parents, Mina and Miles. He thought about the family Blaze lost. The countless families lost to Iblis.

“Yea.” Silver softly paused. “We should.”

He thought about his mother, blamed for this all. And suddenly, Silver knew what he had to do. For his mother, for Blaze

What he had to do for  _ everyone _ .

* * *

Silver was with Blaze at the steps of Castle Soleanna. As much as he was tired, he wanted to know what the Mephiles woman was talking about.

There was a sharp  _ dingg  _ in his mind, which made him stop in his steps. Thankfully, it wasn't painful at all. Just a bit… annoying. And also thankfully, it didn’t affect Blaze. As she just glanced at him with a worried confusion.

“ _ What are you doing!? _ ” The voice of a little girl rang in his mind.

And then footsteps came behind him.

There, standing before him, was a tiny girl. Still in her nighttime sari and white leggings, and her gold quills messy and undone. The smaller girl was surprisingly wearing her boots -- similar to Silver’s boots. Although, hers was gold and brown rather than navy blue and… lighter navy blue.

This, of course, was his twin. Well, technically, they were twins in everything but blood relation. They simply were raised together by Mina. Although, in opposition Silver, Gold’s fur and quills were a dark gold. And plus… she was a mobian tenrec, not whatever Silver was.

The little girl also had powers similar to Silver, however, she was a telepath rather a psychokinetic.

“Gold,” Silver said calmly. Gold was two years younger than him, so it was best to deal with her calmly. Although, Cream (who was six) was a lot easier to deal with… 

“What are you doing?”

“Tailing  _ you! _ ” She squeaked. “Before you do something stupid! Because if you do something stupid, mom is going to get mad! At  _ me! _ ” She squawked. “Mom is going to get mad at me. And I’m going to have to hear ‘ _ Gold, why didn’t you look after your brother!’ _ for the rest of my  _ life!” _

**_LITTLE SISTER, GOLD - 02; THE MAGICIAN_ **

“I’m-  _ we’re  _ not doing something stupid.” Silver rebutted. “C’mon, follow me.”

Blaze nodded. “We’re meeting someone who could end Iblis’ chokehold on society.” The princess explained. “She told us to meet her, at…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes lowering. “Soleanna castle.”

Gold took Silver’s hand. “Alright,” She grumbled. “This  _ better  _ not be stupid.”

He entered the castle with Blaze and Gold at his side. “Hi?” He called out, using his psychic energy to light up the dark and vacant castle. Silver caught view of reflection in a mirror… jeez, he looked like a mess.

Silver was wearing gray cargo pants and a dark blue poncho with a fur rim. He had white gloves with a gold cuff, similar to his boots. His hair had grown out to his mid back which he… didn’t like at all. He would’ve liked to cut it, but he didn’t have any access to scissors on hand.

“Hello.” The woman’s voice rang, coming into view. She seemed to… melt into the darkness. She was… very strange. “You came.”

Silver smiled, feeling Gold grip his hand tightly. She must’ve been terrified by Mephiles. Which was… understandable. The woman was awfully terrifying. “I did.” He laughed. “I brought some friends.”

The mouthless woman chuckled. Silver started to wonder how she talked. “Follow me.” She commanded, walking off. Which… of course, Silver followed. 

“Just as a flower comes from a seed, or a chicken comes from an egg, everything has an origin. You need to find the being originally responsible for this catastrophe.” Mephiles explained, as she walked, leading Silver, Gold and Blaze through the abandoned castle, raising her hand. 

That made… very little sense. Silver  _ knew  _ that the apocalypse was hard on people but… he did an audible sigh. “Is that really the answer to our problem?” Silver asked, as he pointed at Mephiles. “Tell me, do you know who it even is?”

Mephiles ignored his question, walking into a room. Of course, Silver walked into the room, with Blaze and Gold following suit. 

And it was a... database. With functioning technology. Silver hasn’t seen that in… a while.

“To fix this present timeline, you need to change the past.” Mephiles answered, waving her arms -- looking like a puppet with cut strings.

“T-that's impossible.” Gold said flatly. “Like that’s… quite literally impossible. No one in the history of  _ ever  _ has-!” 

Mephiles gave a light chuckle which sounded… fake. Like she didn’t have… a soul. Which made Gold dart behind Silver. 

“Oh, you foolish little girl… with my help, you can... because I have the power to travel through time!” She boasted, as she pulled out a thin, purple-blue gem. “This is the legendary Time Stone of Soleanna, it allows one to travel in time… and in order to change the past, you must eliminate the individual who has awakened Iblis.”

Silver breathed deeply, looking into the gem. “The Iblis Trigger.” He paused. “If I... eliminate that guy, will our world be saved?”

“Silver… you don’t mean…”  _ You don’t mean you’re going to kill someone? _ Gold mumbled, before glancing at Blaze -- who simply gave a melancholic nod. 

Silver glanced at Mephiles.

“The Day of Disaster… known to some as the  _ Ifrit. _ ” Mephiles explained, her cold green eyes scanning the three. “Here are records of this tragedy event. This was when Iblis was freed and his cold flames were released into the world.” She explained, turning the computer on. With it’s activation, various images of Soleanna --  _ before times  _ Soleanna popping up.

She brought up a single image. “And you have  _ this person _ to blame.” Pointing at an image with a blue hedgehog, with emerald green eyes, standing next to…

“Mother!?” Blaze squeaked in a mixture of sadness and horror.

“Queen Elise!” Gold mumbled in awe, grabbing onto Silver’s arm.

The woman standing next to the blue hedgehog was a thin, lanky crane with gray-white feathers. She had short, auburn hair and wore a thin and white feather crown, with an equally feathery white dress with a barely visible feather trim.

That’s Blaze’s mother… was well. That was Blaze’s mother. The former Queen of Soleanna, Elise Percival the Third. 

Silver noodded. “So... that blue hedgehog… is the Iblis Trigger?”

Blaze looked away from the monitor. “What… did he do…?” She paused. “The only way to drive out the flames… was to make her cry.”

“Indeed. That’s why… the Iblis Trigger killed her.” Mephiles answered. She clicked open another tag. 

_ Queen of Soleanna found dead in a carrier crash, strange fires now sprouting around the world.  _

Silver watched Blaze turn to horror. “T… that day…”

He read the subtitle of the article, which made his heart drop.

_ Maria Robotnik (Agent Terios of G.U.N.) blamed for recent tragedy at the U.N. conference. _

Silver wondered… Maria… that… no, that woman couldn’t be his mother.

He felt Gold’s grip on his arm get tighter, his little sister obviously afraid. “Iblis…” She mumbled, her hand gripping Silver’s.

Mephiles gave a nod. “I'll send us back in time to the point... when the Iblis Trigger was alive.” The women held the gem outwards, having it emit a glowing light.

Gold perked her head up. “When was-”

Mephiles cackled, which silenced the tiny girl. However, Mephiles seemingly ignored that, as she raised the time stone up. “Take us back…days before the  _ Ifrit... _ to  **November 14, 2006!** ”

Silver’s vision went white, as he felt Gold’s grip on him release.


	2. Her Destiny, His World

**Year: 2006**

* * *

One night at Kingdom Valley, the capital of Soleanna, the  _ Festival of the Sun _ is being held. A serene festival, celebrating the Sun God that protected the country. It took place exclusively at night throughout the country's 300 year history.

With fireworks fired up towards the night sky, it being a sea-bound country, a large boat comes with it’s kind ruler-- Elise Percival the Third on board waving to the cheering crowds, along with a Lady-in-waiting holding her adopted daughter -- a lavender, mobian kitten named Blaze.

**QUEEN OF SOLEANNA, ELISE PERCIVAL THE THIRD - 19; THE SUN**

**BLAZE THE… KITTEN? - 02; HIGH PRIESTESS**

Once the boat docked took a large platform, overlooked by a large cauldron. The Queen steps off, walking towards a statue. A group of hooded figures flank her, bringing a torch and bestowing it to the queen. 

The queen stares into the flame for a few seconds, before one of her maids walked up behind her -- said maid being Vanilla Rabbot, a middle aged rabbit with cream colored fur. 

“ _ My queen…”  _ The tall rabbit said softly, placing a hand on the queen's shoulder -- jolting her awake. " _The ceremony..._ "

Elise nodded, ruffling her gray-tipped feathers. “We give thanks for the blessed flames. May we always continue to have peace.” She spoke aloud gracefully, smiling with her yellow beak. “Sun of Soleanna, Solaris -- please guide and watch over us with your eternal light…” The queen said aloud to her people, raising the torch up to the sky. Even on a platform so high -- a noticeable smile was on her yellow beak.

The queen bows, before having a flame light the torch, and having it ignite surrounding a pedestal… and finally the large cauldron itself. The people of Soleanna applauds while more fireworks are launched into the air -- having the clear night sky lit up to a myriad of colors.

However… no one notices several missiles streaking out of the sky among the fireworks until it is too late. The missiles land and impact several buildings around Kingdom Valley… causing everyone to instantly go joyous chanting to panicked screaming. 

Elise yelps in shock upon witnessing the carnage to her kingdom, immediately going to the Lady-in-waiting - a chipmunk named Rosemary - holding her daughter. 

There in the sky was the massive and terrifying red airship known as  _ Egg Carrier,  _ which was above the cauldron and dropping off several high-tech robots around the queen and the other figures with her. 

As they are about to attack, a plump man wearing a red military jacket enters in an egg shaped, mobile machine. Robots go to the sides of the mobile, as their boss prepares to confront the Queen.

The plump man laughs as he bows. “A pleasure to meet you at last, Queen of Soleanna! I am Dr. Eggman.” The Doctor greeted. “I've come here to obtain the secret of the Flames of Disaster from you.”

**DOCTOR IVO ROBTONIK (AKA EGGMAN) - 12; THE HANGED MAN**

Eggman then points at Elise, clutching a blue emerald, now noticeable to the hero of this situation. The queen then pressed tightly against her chest in terror, stepping towards her maids.

“And to take the miracle gems that are the keys to its secret... the Chaos Emerald!” He commanded, pointing at the Queen. “Now, this way please.” Eggman said, with a dastardly smile on his wrinkled and aging face.

Elise stepped back, clearly not wanting to go along with the man’s dastardly plans. Smart choice.

Eggman pointed towards the queen's direction. That, reasonably, made the queen step back in fear -- who was now in the process taking her now upset and mewling kitten from her maid. 

And in a second, a blue tornado began to appear circling in the air, blowing up the robes of the bishop surrounding the queen. 

The queen glanced around, puzzled. Until her attention was drawn to a protruding piece of debris, with a  _ fantastic  _ blue hedgehog standing on top of it.

That of course, leads to the hero. A short, blue hedgehog with white gloves and red n white sneakers. “My, my…” He laughed. “That's certainly a pretty snazzy performance here, good ‘ol Egghead!”

The queen stepped back. “You…” She pauses, shaking her head. “ _No_ , it can't be...”

The heroic hedgehog felt himself smile at the Egg Gunners, and immediately dispatched them all with a single homing attack. The last one, he decided to stun with the energy from his earlier attack, before he simply nudged it to tip over and off its perch. He then ran back over next to Elise.

The queen gasped in surprise and probably awe. “What... I... who in the world _are_ you?”

The blue blur smiled, raising an eyebrow. “Well your majesty, my name is Sonic... Sonic the hedgehog!” He introduced the royal crane queen, before scooping her up in his arms and running off.

**THAT’S SONIC… SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! - 11; JUSTICE**

“God!” The scientist snapped. “That hedgehog again!” He raised his arm. “Attack!”

The Egg Gunners begin to fire missiles at Sonic, as he runs away. Elise clutches to emerald, totally in fright. Sonic guessed she didn’t get the kitten from one of the maids. Which he considered a good thing, caring someone was one thing -- carrying a small child is a another.

And the best part - Egg Gunners don’t even  _ catch  _ him.

He’s able to make it to the rooftops and escape. Which, in Sonic’s book, is a job well done.

After making it to a more enclosed part of town -- by the canals and closed shops, he slows down.

“Umm…” The queen mumbled, her eyes darting towards Sonic. “Why are you helping me...?”

Sonic laughed. “Do I  _ need  _ a reason to save someone?” He answers, jumping over one of the many canals of Soleanna. “You were a person in distress getting harassed by Egghead.”

“I… see.” She mumbles awkwardly, before blushing. “I suppose I would do the same if was able to... but, thank you, Mr. Sonic.”

“No ‘thank you’’s needed!” Sonic said with a laugh. "And it's just Sonic."

“Oh, um, alright…” The queen blushed, which was a nice sight to be honest, since all Sonic saw of her was a somber and polite woman. Kinda reminded him of Maria if… Maria wasn’t a nuclear warhead of a teenage girl.

Until, more of Eggman's Egg Gunners block Sonic's path. Sonic’s immediate decision was to put Elise down -- which gave him more freedom to destroy all of the Egg Gunners… again with a single homing attack.

He barely has a chance to catch his breath before he hears Elise squawk loudly, as Eggman had grabbed Elise with one of the claws of the Egg mobile.

“I'm afraid our little game ends now.” Eggman said, insulting the hedgehog. "I'll be taking the queen from here... but thank you for being _such_ a nuisance."

Elise gave a another squawk as she wiggled a wing free, and then threw/chucked the gem she was holding onto... at him. 

“Please, Mr. Sonic, take this!

He catches it and he… realizes, at further inspection, that it was a Chaos Emerald. “I've got it! And don't worry, I'll rescue you!”

Elise blushes. “Don’t worry about me-” She pauses, continuing to try and wiggle herself free. “Please protect Soleanna… protect Blaze!”

Eggman scoffed. “It's only a matter of time before it's mine. Until then, you can hold onto it for me!” Eggman said as he flees with Elise, going into the Egg Carrier. 

Sonic tried running after it, watching the Egg Carrier becoming more and more of a blip into the distance.

... _What an epic fail._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! In this Elise is a mobian. I love Elise as a human, however the fanbase... not so much. I also really like Sonelise (hell its my @ on twitter) so to make that work in thiswith getting cancelled... she's a mobian now. Specifically- a sandhill crane! Originally she was going to be a cuckoo bird.
> 
> She's a Queen and the adopted mother of Blaze. I mainly changed her from a Princess to a Queen because... man, she's leading a whole-ass country. Let the girl be a queen. Also, why is she the adopted mother of Blaze? I thought it would make her trusting in Mephiles a lot more believing. Another thing: in this, Sonic Rush is non-canon. I love the Rush games to death but... yeah. It doesn't work in this considering Blaze would already KNOW Sonic- but that's going into spoiler territory so... :3
> 
> ANOTHER ANOTHER THING: I obviously changed the gap of the doomed future from 200 to 20... why? To make it more devastating.
> 
> A new chapter is being uploaded tomorrow! After that... this fic is getting updated every Thursday!
> 
> Happy reading!


	3. Russian Roulette with Nillili Mambo

**TEAM DARK’S PAST RELIC, MARIA ROBOTNIK - 06, THE LOVERS**

* * *

It’s been a weird two years for Maria Robotnik. Some extremely weird, five years.

After investigation on her family’s past - specifically her Grandfather and Shadow’s - past, she has done the four following things. 

One, learn that the eclipse cannon was made to  _ help  _ earth. Which was a surprise to Maria, all though it did explain  _ why _ it was there on the ARK. Because despite its revamped intention of destroying the Earth, it was actually made to destroy the Black Comet.

Which speaking off-

Two, stopped an alien invasion. The said Black Comet that the Ark was meant to destroy, led by the alien warlord Black Doom and his army -- the Black Arms. Which, also, screw Black Doom. Sure, he was apparently the surrogate father for Shadow, but he is  _ not  _ part of her family. Shadow was born to protect the Earth, died protecting Maria, and the hedgehog dying wish was for the earth to be safe.

He would never hurt the precious Earth he was created to protect.

Anyways… back on topic.

Three, helped an android made by Eggman break free from his programming (his name is Omega). Later, said robot helped defeat Sonic's robotic doppelganger -- Metal Madness. It wasn't as cool as Mecha Sonic. 

Four, is now working for G.U.N., in a squad called  _ Team Dark  _ (composed of Rouge, Rouge’s fiance Topaz, Omega, a chipmunk navigator named Sally, herself, and some rookie known as  _ Mina _ ) _.  _

Which yes, is a lot.

And as for working with G.U.N…. well, the commander is paying her handsomely. Plus -- the raid is now public knowledge. Weirder, people at G.U.N. actually are  _ apologizing  _ to her. And she’s getting free therapy and healthcare, which is very nice. She also noticed the soldiers that found her and the scientist that tortured her were no longer considered 'gun heroes'. Which was... also nice.

(And the commander was her playmate, Abraham Tower, so… there’s that.)

(She was also known as  _ Agent Terios  _ by G.U.N. _ … _ which, as much as Maria hated that period of time… she’s gotten better at dealing with the amount of self-hatred Maria had at her actions during the ARK incident.)

Which leads to now.

> _ White Acropolis, night. _

The alarm for Eggman's fortress-like base rings allowed, alerted of Maria’s present, as a battalion of Egg Gunners marched forward to deal with the intruder... aka, Maria. She immediately storms from her hiding spot in the forest and runs towards the base. 

The Egg Gunners shoot at her, which due to therapy, doesn't trigger her PTSD as it did before. It also helps that she's becoming comfortable using guns herself. She runs through the robots attacking robots, destroying them with chaos spears. 

Maria leaps into the base perimeter as she feels an explosion in the background, and hides into the shadows of a shed, avoiding the searchlights. She lets herself breathe in, something her therapist taught her when dealing with stuff like her triggers.

She feels a buzz on her wrist. It was… a transmission from HQ. Maria clicked it on. “ _ There's an SOS coming from Dr. Eggman's Base. _ ” Her operator - a chipmunk named Sally - spoke. 

“Understood, thank you Sally.” She nodded, even though the other girl wasn’t there to see it.

A laugh. “ _ No thanking needed, it’s my job as your team's operator to help you.”  _ The chipmunk pauses. “ _ Although, it’s greatly appreciated.” _

“No… er, problem, Sally.” Maria paused. “I mean- t... thank you, again.”

**NAVIGATOR OF TEAM DARK, SALLY ACORN - 05; THE HIEROPHANT**

“ _Ok, ok… back on topic.”_ Sally said calmly, before pausing -- probably to read something of a screen _._ Maybe the mission report from yesterday. “ _Our last communication with our agent was 26 hours ago. We expect an immediate rescue, Agent Terios!”_

“Initiating the mission now.” 

Maria answers, ending the transmission as she teleport away using Chaos Control… which is another thing she’s getting better at. Continued training along with her therapy helped her improve in her techniques.

Maria was warped inside the base, which was clean and sterile. She immediately clicked her radio on… contacting the missing agent. “Rouge!” Maria whispered. “Where the hell are you?”

“ _ Oh, lil miss Maria! Watch your profanity! Aren’t you a good, polite 1950’s catholic girl?”  _ Rouge answered, clearly sarcastic. “ _ I’m in lab S-06, by the way.” _

Maria groaned.  _ “ _ Thanks.” She responded. “And I’m living in the 2000’s, god!” She groaned as she rolled her eyes, ending the transmission. 

Eggman has horrible security. He’s always had, but somehow it’s gotten  _ worse.  _ Was it this bad during the ARK incident…? She managed to avoid the drones and cameras, before she...

Well. And with that, Maria had realized that the lab S-06 was only a block away from where she warped in.

Slipping into the room, she immediately saw Rouge hiding under a desk, in her sneaking suit (a futuristic, pink-and-purple bodysuit with the heart motif on her belt). “Aw, my knight in shining spandex!”

Maria blushed, realising that her  _ own  _ ‘action suit’ was simply the spandex suit she was frozen in and a spare G.U.N. jacket with a  _ very  _ fluffy fur collar. Oh and… a crimson red breast plate similar to Rouge’s.

“...Um, hello, Rouge.”

**THE TEAM MOM OF TEAM DARK, ROUGE BATON - 04; THE EMPRESS**

Rouge crawled from the desk, and then stood, holding out a… specter? Specifically, a white specter holding a black orb with small, white wings. “Don't you want to know what  _ this  _ bad boy is?”

“Not at the moment, no. Maybe later.” Maria answers, grabbing the bat’s gloved hand. “My immediate mission was to rescue you, and I’d rather not stay here longer than I have to.”

“Fine.” Rouge sighed. “With you, it's always business.”

Maria raised her hand, channeling the chaos energy in her body. She thought of where she wanted to go --  _ somewhere better than a military base.  _ Therapy or not, she still had… unpleasant memories of places like this. Even if it was almost sixty years ago, it… still hurt. Maria was getting better at handling her trauma… she could still feel the pain of it.

“Chaos…” She called out, before breathing in again. Chaos energy was like sparking a fire. Maria felt her body tingle before she fully channeled the fully charged power. 

“ **Chaos Control!** ”

* * *

The destination of Maria’s Chaos Control, was a small town. Extremely rustic but… that just gave her more questions. Usually, if Maria didn’t have an emerald, the distance of the spatial warp was at max ten miles. With an emerald, the max distance of a spatial warp was nigh infinite… but…

Why was Eggman’s White Acropolis only a short teleport from a... calm little sea port town?

Rouge stretched her arms, walking through the docks. “Ah, Soleanna, the kingdom of water. It has a constitutional monarchy, you know. The current sovereign is Queen Elise the Third, the current princess is an infant named Blaze, and currently, we’re in it’s capital -- Kingdom Valley. From my minor research, the primary industries are tourism and crafting precision machinery. ” The bat explained.

“That’s very good, thank you.” Maria said, with a pause as she saw Rouge smile. “But… why is Eggman's base near a place like this?”

Rouge shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure, I just followed my orders and retrieved the Item.” She paused, holding out the specter. “Oh! By the way, I have a little favor to ask of you. Could you escort me to G.U.N. rendezvous point?”

“I just saved your life, you don’t have to ask.” Maria answered, chuckling. She’s almost tempted to add ‘ _ You saved me too _ ’... but it’s a tad bit embarrassing, so she refrains from it _.  _ She perks her head up. “Er- where is the rendezvous point, exactly? I don’t believe I was told about it.”

Rouge pulled out a map of Soleanna. “It's the ancient castle of Soleanna, what the locals call the  _ Tropical Jungle _ .”

Maria nodded. She was a bit interested in learning about Soleanna… and precisely why Eggman had a base near. Maria was… a bit obsessed with what her cousin was doing. She made a promise to Shadow… and that promise was to protect the earth.

And protecting the earth includes protecting it from her own family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rouge is wearing her Sonic Heroes outfit! Which needs more love by the way, it's a neato outfit! 
> 
> Maria is wearing a breast plate similar to Rouge's, as well as an omega sign on the back of her G.U.N. jacket. All to show that #TeamDarkSolidarity.
> 
> Also chapter schedule:  
> Silver -> Sonic / Elise -> Maria (repeat)


	4. In the Present, In the Flesh

Silver woke up on the ground. It was… warm. Like, not the fake warm he grew accustomed too, wearing thick parkas and heavy boots. And it felt… bright. And… wet? Well, he had to open his eyes.

The first thing he saw was sunlight. The second thing he saw was the color green.

“Where  _ am  _ I?”

It was… beautiful. Everything felt… nice. And warm. It was… a little too warm. A bit too warm for him to wear a poncho. Far too warm, actually. Which felt… nice. It felt nice being  _ warm  _ for once instead of being cold.

So… he took it off, revealing his black chest binder. 

He couldn’t think about anything else right now.

He needed to get on his mission.

Silver looked around, it was… a pretty mesmerizing place. A lush, green jungle. “Blaze? Gold!” He called out, looking around for the princess and his sister. 

Even then, Blaze was competent on her own. She may not talk about it often, but the princess had pyrokinesis -- which is understandable, a fiery wasteland wasn’t the best place to have fire powers.

Silver was more worried about Gold, and while she did have telekinesis -- Gold was only 12 years old. And Silver  _ knows  _ that he’d go ballistic if anything happened to his sister. He actually wished the young tenrec  _ didn’t  _ come along.

He shook his head.

“I guess we all got separated. That is  _ so  _ unbelievable…” He groaned, noticing the path ahead -- just past a large… tree? This was still all so new to him. Silver shook his head. “Now... I must fight for the future!”

He ran through the forest which… got him lost very easily. It was just… so big. And just… so special. Silver’s never seen such a sight,  _ such peace.  _ It was a far cry from where he lived -- a cold and desolate wasteland. 

Heck, even the  _ sunlight  _ was a pleasant feeling. It was really nice actually seeing a comforting sun for the first time.

That pleasant feeling he felt - it was… it was the  **dreams of his mother’s absolution** .

Walking around the grand forest was absolutely pleasant -- but he still needed to find the Iblis Trigger, which meant he had to leave. 

A couple hours of searching led him to the entrance of the town, the sky had turned from day to night. Silver expected to hate the darkness but… he didn’t.

In fact, he thought the sky was… absolutely beautiful. It was dark, yes, but spotted with white twinkling… stars? He had only heard about the night sky -- the night sky like  _ this  _ from tales from his guardians.

Silver felt himself look at the night sky for the first time. Was this that thing that Ms. Acorn talked about -- that she used to do with that lynx girl, “stargazing”?

The hedgehog shook his head. He had to get to work. For the sake of everyone he knew, for the high cost of his dignity.

He had levitated himself onto one of the roofs of said Town. 

The Iblis Trigger -- apparently the blue hedgehog. He saved the Queen, which was a surprise to Silver. Wasn’t the Iblis Trigger supposed to  _ kill  _ the Queen? Eh, maybe the jerk was waiting for the right time to strike.

The Iblis Trigger also had… a jewel similar to Mephiles’, although it was blue in color.

Silver makes a fist. “I've finally found him... the Iblis Trigger!” He knew that vengeance would soon be his. He began to move forward, before being… grabbed by someone.

“ _ Now I've got you, Sonic! _ ” A girlish voice squeaked, as Silver felt himself being hugged.

Silver blushed as the girl grabbed… things he'd rather not be grabbed by another person. “H-hey!”

The girl nuzzled his back. “It's about time I finally caught you again!” Before of course, she stepped back and opened her eyes -- as Silver looked at her. The girl was a pink hedgehog wearing a red dress and boots.

Why did this girl look like Lara-su…?

“Hey! You're not Sonic!” She squealed as the hedgehog’s gloved hand made contact with Silver’s cheek. “Oh- um... I'm sorry!”

Silver rubbed his burning cheek. Even if this girl wasn’t Lara-su… she sure as hell  _ slapped  _ like Lara-su.

He ignored the aching sensation to look back to where the Iblis Trigger was. 

**The Iblis Trigger was gone!**

“Huh? Hey, w- where'd he go?” Silver double-checked, making sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. 

...Dammit. He was gone. God… God dammit! 

He had to keep it together. Silver couldn’t let himself get angry. If Blaze wasn’t there to keep him calm, then he had to do it for her.

“He must have run off…” Silver grumbled.

The pink hedgehog was still there, and in fact, she walked toward Silver. “I'm sorry. Did you miss someone because of me?”

“Ah... it's okay.” Silver shook his head. “I'm sure the guy I'm looking for is still in the area. I'm sure I can still find him.”  _ At least I hope I could find him _ .

The girl grabbed his hand, with a vigor quite unlike Gold or even Blaze. “Well then, I'll help you!”

“W-what?”

The girl smiled, as she gave a cute laugh. “Well, two heads are better than one when looking for someone!”

“Hey, just wait a second!”

The girl leaned into him. “Hold on. What's your name?”

He paused for a moment. Would it be a good idea if he tampered with the past like this? Oh hell, he was already going to kill someone to change the future.

“...Silver.” He paused. “I’m Silver.”

The pink hedgehog smiled. “That's a cute name! I'm Amy Rose. It's nice to meet you!” She - Amy Rose - said as she ran off with Silver, still holding his hand. 

**SONIC’S NO.1 FANGIRL, AMY ROSE - 10; THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE**

“Hey--  _ wait! _ ”

Amy paused, stopping in her tracks. “Sorry. I get really gung-ho when looking for someone.” She apologies.

“It’s…  _ fine. _ ” He paused.

Silver shook his head. He  _ really  _ wished he was with Blaze and Gold. Well, maybe Blaze more than Gold. The tenrec  _ was  _ his adopted sister, but the hedgehog felt much more confident with the princess around. 

“So,” Amy smiles, leaning towards Silver. “Where are ya from?”

That’s a bit hard to answer. Technically, he lives in Soleanna… from the future. And, said Soleanna wasn’t even  _ called  _ Soleanna -- the field leader of the Freedom Fighters, Ms. Sally Acorn, renamed the city too… well,  _ Crisis City. _

“Er- I live here, actually.” Silver mumbled awkwardly. Which was half true. “In the uh… the uh, the New City District.” That was… he hoped, a thing in the present.

Amy smiled. “Oh cool! You can show me around, then.”  _ I don't think I can, I’m sorry _ . “Oh, by the way, I’m from South Island -- near where Little Planet appears..”

“Yeah, yeah, Little Planet. I know about that…”  _ I don’t. I don’t even think there’s any surviving text on South Island  _ **_or_ ** _ anything on a ‘Little Planet’.  _ “Um, so-”

How does he even talk to someone from the past? ‘ _ Oh hey, by the way random hedgehog girl, the world is going to become a hellscape in five days, and I have to kill someone to stop it’ _ ? God, he’d sound insane. 

Like any of this  _ isn’t  _ insane already…

“By the way, who’re you looking for?”

Silver perked his ears up. “Um, three people actually, but-” A pause. “I’m mainly looking for, a purple cat girl… she’s uh, named Blaze.”

Amy giggled.

_ Why is she laughing? Past people are weird. _

“What?” Silver squawked as he stopped in his place. Did he say something funny? Was his best friend… named weirdly?

“It’s nothing, sorry. That was rude.” Amy apologizes, with a sheepish smile. “Is this ‘Blaze’ girl your-- sorry if this is crossing a boundary, is she your girlfriend?”

Silver froze and felt his face go red. Him and Blaze? Dating? No, no. He wasn’t  _ worthy  _ to date a princess. 

“What? No, no- we’re friends.”

Amy raised an eyebrow. 

“We- we’re  _ just  _ friends. Seriously, Ms. Rose.” Silver said politely, before he paused. “We’ve known each other since  _ childhood --  _ I tell her everything, she tells me everything, and...”

_ I made a promise to protect her. _

Protecting Blaze was how the two met, actually. Silver can’t remember the event fully now, as he was six at the time. But he vaguely remembers his powers surging out to shield Blaze from falling debris. And… they’ve been close ever since.

“...I just want her to be safe, is all.”


	5. Wave Ocean

Kingdom Valley is a pretty big city. From all the brochures he’s read -- it seemed  _ tiny _ . He expected it to be around the size of Los Angeles, and even to the extent of the entirety of Golden Gate Zone.

But no. Kingdom Valley at least the size of Los Angeles. Which, yeah, normal for a city. But Soleanna itself was nearly an entire  _ quarter  _ of the Amestrian continent. 

And for all Sonic’s searching, the crack of dawn happened -- and now, it’s daytime.

_ Dammit _ .

He groaned audibly. Even worse, the people of Kingdom Valley weren’t any help either. He was getting  _ way  _ too tired of dealing with asshole cosplayers (of SONIC, no less) and unaware shopkeepers.

“Sonic!” A familiar voice called out, considering it  _ was  _ Sonic’s little brother. 

Sonic whipped around, glad to see that the source of the voice was his brother. “Tails! Nice to see ya, lil buddy!” He greeted the kit with a hand wave.

**GENIUS INVENTOR, MILES PROWER (AKA “TAILS”) - 07; THE CHARIOT**

He was tempted to actually say ‘ _ Long time, no see _ ’ -- but that was reserved for people he genuinely hasn’t seen for awhile, like Rouge or Maria -- maybe even good ‘ol Knucklehead (who he hasn’t seen in a couple months). Why he felt the temptation to say it… hell, he didn’t know.

“I'm glad that you're here.” The kit laughed. “The locals here are nice and all, but… jeez, if I have another guy ask me to talk to a damned  _ pigeon… _ ” Tails groaned, shaking his head. “Anyways... I heard from said locals that you tried to save the Queen from Dr. Eggman. You  _ are _ going to rescue her now, aren't you?”

Sonic rubbed his nose. “Yeah, of course I will!” He laughed. “Saving’s what I do.” 

Tails clapped his hands. “Let me help! I may not know what Eggman's up to  _ exactly _ , but it can't be anything good!”

“OK!” Sonic said with a thumbs up. “With your help, this should be a piece of cake.” He ran off, the two tailed fox at his side.

“Heh heh... I'll do my best!” Tails said with a blush. “Oh! I can try tracking Eggman, since I put a tracker on the Egg Carrier during the Chaos Incident.”

Sonic smiled. “Well, where is the good doctor?” He paused. “I would  _ love  _ to pay him a visit.”

“He’s…” Tails trailed off, taking out the mini- _ Miles Electric -- _ a yellow device shaped like a  _ Sega PiCO  _ game cart _. _ “The Soleanna’s waterfront-- Wave Ocean!”

> _ Wave Ocean, day. _

The Egg Carrier was flying away. How disappointing. For once in these grueling 24 hours, Sonic wanted to actually  _ succeed.  _ Which is weird, because usually, Sonic does  _ succeed _ . He’s the fastest thing alive, and he can’t even catch an airship.

A feather falls down from the sky, which Sonic runs over to pick up.

...It looks like one a feather from Elise's dress. Or hell, one of the feathers on the Queen’s wingspan.

“It looks like the Queen was moved into another location...” The fox trailed off, as he walked around Sonic. Tails looked into his Miles Electric. “And… she’s in the desert! Called… Dusty Desert Ruins.”

Sonic chuckled, trying to keep his mind off this epic failure. “Why’s there a desert near an oceanic country?”

“Because it borders on the more desert-y country of Ishval.” Tails explained. “However… we’ll have to go back to Kingdom Valley to get there. So… let's head back!”

As Tails leaves the scene, all Sonic could do was clutch the feather.

He  _ was  _ going to rescue Elise.

> _ Kingdom Valley, day _

It was a bit surprising that no-one in town seemed to  _ notice  _ that their Queen was up and  _ gone _ . Sonic slightly hoped there was at least  _ someone  _ running the country. 

The town square (where Sonic and Tails were at the moment) was also just… quiet. Not empty, as there were still shopkeepers and people going about their day -- just not… bustling, like San Francisco or Central City.

Tails hummed, glancing up from his  _ Miles Electric _ . “Well, I think we should  _ somehow _ find a way to get to the Dusty Desert.” 

“Dusty Desert. That’s kinda redundant.” Sonic muses. “Like, yeah, of course, a desert going to be dusty. That’s like naming a beach ‘Wave Ocean’ or, naming a  _ grassy hill  _ ‘Gr-… nevermind. How should we find this  _ Dusty Desert _ ?”

“Maybe asking around? The royal guard or a local cop should  _ probably  _ suffice.  _ And I don’t want to talk to a damn pigeon… _ ” The kitsune grumbles the last part, probably still pissed off at it. Sonic doesn’t much appreciate how humans treat mobians, but he doesn’t let it bother him  _ either _ . Tails’ intellect probably led to the fox being bugged the  _ hell  _ out by a human’s specism.

Eh. It was understandable.

Sonic nodded. “Mhm. But like, how? I would guess… uh, going to the capitol building?”

A yell -- a  _ womanly  _ yell broke into the air. Which made Sonic turn his attention to the direction of the said yeller.

There stood a rabbit woman -- with cream colored fur and a white muzzle, wearing a long light pink and purple dress with a fitted burgundy vest, and low-heeled burgundy shoes. And she was… being harassed by a human, dressed similarly to Sonic -- well, a helmet similar to Sonic’s quills and ears.

“ _ Please, leave me  _ **_alone_ ** _! _ ” The rabbit yelled politely running towards Sonic, while holding a bundle of  _ something _ .

The woman was probably the head lady-in-waiting he had read about named  _ Vanilla Rabbot _ , who was originally from the Southern Baronies of Southern Island. She was also apparently the elder sister to  _ Bunnie Rabbot _ , who was someone  _ Sonic  _ knew. 

(Although, that’s not rare. Sonic knows a  _ lot  _ of people.)

The guy nearly  _ grappled  _ the woman, which resulted in a cry from Vanilla and a whine from the swaddle of cloth (a baby?). 

“You rabbit fiend! Unhand the princess, for I am  _ Sonic… Sonic Man! _ ” 

**SONIC MAN**

Ugh. That was completely groan-worthy. 

Also… ‘ _ Unhand the Princess’ _ ? That was probably the current princess and future sovereign of Soleanna -- adopted by Elise, a barely year old kitten named Blaze. Sonic all learned this from the internet.

Sonic sighed, as he glanced at Tails. “Should I deal with that?”

“I would assume you  _ would _ , dude."

Sonic clapped his hands together, breathing in deeply. Usually, fanboys/fangirls/fanby were something he was ok with. Cosplayers drifted into a ‘ _ that’s kinda weird _ ’ territory. 

Masked vigilantes that were trying to be him, were just flat out  _ annoying _ .

“Ok, ok.” Sonic said aloud. “Stop harassing the rabbit. And stop bothering a middle-aged woman.”

The said middle-aged woman leaped away from the human’s grasp. “And who’re  _ you  _ supposed to be, Evil-doer?” He says with a bravado, not unlike the bravado Sonic had as a youth. Although Sonic never used  _ Evil-doer  _ (that’s more of a Maria or Knuckles thing to do).

“I’m  _ Sonic the hedgehog _ , obviously.” He introduced, groaning. “Go back to Casino Night Zone, leave the woman and the critter alone.”

Sonic Man gave a shocked scream. And then, just… ran off. Huh. What a guy.

Vanilla smiled, walking toward them. “Ah, thank you. I’m Lady Vanilla, one of Her Majesty’s lady-in-waiting. 

**Vanilla Rabbot**

“Aren’t you the young man that saved Her Majesty yesterday, yes?” She asked softly, attempting to calm the kitten in her arms down. “Where might Her Majesty be? Or, does Her Majesty need Lord Regis to take over while she goes into hiding?”

“‘ _ Her Majesty _ ’? You mean… Elise, right?”

Vanilla stood back, almost a tad offended. Sonic should take note of that. “Yes… Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth Pericval the third. Or… perhaps better known to foreigners as  _ Queen Elise. _ ” She paused, shaking her head. “I ask you again, where is Her Majesty? 

Sonic felt himself cringe. “Uh… about that. Eggman managed to nab her after I saved her at the ceremony. It was, uh, quite fail-tastic, on my part.”

“Ah, I see… I’ll talk to Lord Regis, then.” The older woman mumbled, clearly disappointed. “I’m assuming you and the fox boy are going to go after her?”

Tails blushed. Not many people call him fox boy, especially by a mobian. “Uh… yeah, sure. That’s the plan.” He perked an ear. “What’s the best way to get to the Dusty Desert?”

Sonic was tempted to ask the rabbit  _ why  _ she had the princess with her -- because logically, it would be  _ quite  _ dangerous after a kidnapping. Especially after a  _ royal  _ kidnapping.

Nevermind that.

It was coming all together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of the current social climate, I just want to say a few things:  
> Fuck cops!  
> Black Lives Matter!  
> https://t.co/VUo6UJSyWl?amp=1


	6. Whisper in the Dark

> _ Tropical Jungle, day. _

Maria found herself with Rouge walking through a wet jungle, for a couple hours. It’s not the most comfortable place.

Rouge stretched her arms. “The rendezvous point is just up ahead.” The bat smiled. “It’s not much, as it’s just our rookie member.”

Maria tilted her head. “And our roo-?”

Before Maria could even finish, she’s given one of the tightness back hugs she’s ever been given. 

Rouge laughed. “Ha, there she is.” With that, the hug loosened, allowing Maria to break free and see her hug-attacker.

It was… a fairly short mobian. The girl -- this yellow mongoose with bushy bright purple hair, her eyes pierced multiple times and wearing a standard G.U.N. uniform… was Mina. 

“OhmygodIwassoscaredandI’msosorryforgettinglost-” The girl said at a rushed pace.

Maria patted the much shorter mobian, it almost felt similar to when she’d pat Shadow. “It’s... ok.” She paused. “Don’t worry about it.”

The mongoose sighed. “Oh my gosh, thank you!” The mongoose sighed, straightening her uniform and hair -- before going into a salute. “Um, I’m here from G.U.N. to… oh, you probably know that, uh- I’m Mina Mongoose, and I’m here to help, sirs- I mean, ma’ams!” 

**TEAM DARK ROOKIE, MINA MONGOOSE - 17; THE STAR**

The girl blushed. “Oh, I botched that introduction…” She mumbled, lowering her hand.

Rouge laughed. “It’s alright, it happens to the best of us.” The bat held out her hand. “Welcome aboard to Team Dark, Ms. Mongoose!”

Maria gave a wave.

“Um, where are we… going?” The young mongoose mumbled. 

“Soleanna Castle… the abandoned one.” Rouge smiled with a hand wave, as the three began walking. “You’ll guard the premises when we get there.” 

After a couple of minutes of walking, there ahead was a ruined castle. 

It’s quite… decrepit. Almost reminds her of the ARK. 

Mina on the other hand, was a lot more awed. “It’s so… big!” She… squeed? Is that a word? “I would  _ love  _ to do a concert here!”

“Concert?” Maria repeated. “You sing?”

Mina blushed. “Well, haha, I want to. But I’m too much of a scaredy-cat to do so!”

Maria chuckled. “When all of this is over, I think the entirety of Team Dark would like to hear it.”

“Ok, Maria, we have to end the chit-chat.” Rouge laughed. “Our mission is to investigate the castle. Mina, stay here and stand guard, ok hon?”

Mina saluted, as Maria and Rouge entered the castle.

“ _ Fine _ .” Maria parotted to Rouge. “ _ With you it's always business~ _ .”

Rouge groaned as she led Maria. “Did you know, by the way, that the former king of Soleanna used to reside in this castle. But a major accident occurred 10 years ago, and no one's lived here since.”

“Accident?” Maria repeated, feeling the negative connotations with that word.

Rouge nodded. “I heard a prototype energy engine failed, which caused the accident. I think the name of the plan was…”

A familiar machine floats in front of them.

It was… well, Maria’s cousin, Doctor Eggman. “... named  _ The Solaris Project _ . Quite an ambitious project named after their eternal sun god.”

“Doctor!” Rouge called.

“It's been a while, Rouge!” Eggman laughed, glancing at the spy, before turning his attention away. “And of course, my darling cousin Maria. Now, if you'd be so kind as to hand back the Scepter of Darkness  _ you  _ took from me.” 

Egg Gunners drop down, surrounding the two.

“We don’t have time for this!” Maria snapped, as Rouge flew her up -- the bat still holding the Scepter.

Eggman sent a blast toward the two -- specifically Rouge, knocking her down. Of course, the blast -- while non-effective, caused Rouge to drop the Scepter of Darkness. 

Of course, as the two fell to ground, Maria caught Rouge and landed on her feet.

“No…!” Eggman squawked.

The Scepter of Darkness shatters against the ground and the robots short-circuit. 

Maria’s first instinct is to approach the scepter, but… she freezes when a dark smoke leaks from it. 

“Maria!” Rouge called.

Maria immediately jumps away, as the… darkness shoots into the air from the scepter. The darkness shot towards the sky -- jagged and smooth, with specs of purple dust sparking off it, making it look like more like electricity rather than inky darkest.

“It's no use! Pull back, pull back, pull back!” Eggman shouting, as he fly away in the Egg Mobile.

The flying shadow knocks down and eliminates all the robots. After it’s… help? It shot itself into the ground in front of Maria and Rouge. 

And… Maria and Rouge’s shadow is drawn, building into a billow of dark smoke and… a woman emerges from it.

Rouge stepped back in horror. “W-what? No-  _ our _ shadows…!”

There before them, was a rail thin woman with pale-blonde hair. The woman wore a gray body-suit with a heart shaped black breastplate, with white boots and opera gloves. She had radar-dish ears, as well as ‘wings’ that… came from the bob of hair.

In fact, the woman seemed similar to Rouge… and to Maria, herself.

And… it… she-...  _ whatever the being was… _ well, didn’t have a mouth. Just clean, white skin in place over a mouth  _ should  _ be. 

The being’s nose was similar enough to that of a human being, with the only strange thing about it being the nose was bone-y. The eyes were odd as well - having green eyes... with slit, cat-like pupils.

The woman (?) laughed, sounding deep and masculine. “Oh, how  _ ironic  _ fate can be! I would never have believed I would be resurrected through the shade of you!” The woman said in a deep, dark manly voice, as she bowed. “I thank you both, Maria and Rouge!”

“Who are you!?” Maria barked, shooting her arm in front of Rouge. _“What_ are you!? And how do you know our names?”

“I'm Mephistopheles the Azazel or just… Mephiles.” 

_ Mephiles - 14; The Temperance _

Mephiles cackled. “Oh my! What, did you forget  _ me _ ? And I owe  _ so  _ much to you especially, Maria. Oh,  _ yes! _ ” The being laughed -- almost taking sexual _ pleasure _ in it.

Maria stepped back. “What? Wh- who exactly  _ are  _ you!” She paused, shaking her head. “Nevermind that- what are you doing? No, no-- what in god's name _are_ you!?"

Mephiles furrowed her brow. "Oh my... how sad. You named me, yet you have seemingly forgotten who am I... how cruel fate is." She chuckled again. "That's no matter... it won't matter soon."

"I don't even know who you are." Maria growled, raising her arm -- readying a chaos spear. "This'll be over soon enough!"

_"Goodness..._ a threat, it's coming from your pretty lips. How cruel, and how rude -- just _so_ unexpected of you, dearest Maria." She formed a purple orb in her hand. "How tragic... you won't even know what going to happen to you. Thankfully, you have a jacket with you."

"The hell does that mean?" Maria snapped back in confusion.

Rouge glanced at the orb in the woman's hand. "A-and what is _that!?_ "

“Oh, dearest miss Rouge, I almost forgot you were here, how _rude_ of me. As an apology, I'll explain: it's a gift. It's a gift in return for what you given to me, and I shall now return to  _ you _ !” Mephiles cackled, as she surrounds Maria and Rouge in a purple energy field. 

The last thing Maria heard before her vision went black, as Mephiles speaking.

“ **_A one-way ticket to oblivion!_ ** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY! So, about Mephiles!  
> I think she would still sound like Dan Green! Mephiles probably doesn't have a gender in the first place, so her having a masculine voice is pretty canon-typical.  
> Also - if I had to 'fancast' Maria, she'd either be voiced by Moriah Angeline (Maria's SA2 voice actress) or Kira Buckland (2B’s VA in Nier Automata)


	7. Desert Ruin

Out of all the things Silver wanted to do, it was somewhere that reminded him of home.

A deserted desert oasis. However, this time, it was  _ boiling hot _ . So, a little bit better. But it was… still beautiful. 

“Hmm... I sense Sonic's presence there.” Amy announced, walking around. She laughs. Call it my psychic intuition, heehee!”

“ _ What am I doing? _ ” Silver grumbled, despite his exhaustion, before perking his ears up in curiosity. “Wait, woah- you have ESP?” Silver says in shock, before demonstrating his own extrasensory perception - psychokinesis, which was to lift some rocks up.

‘Woah! That’s neato but... uh,” Amy blushed. “My ‘ESP’ is nothing like that. I can just kinda… predict stuff. Also, um, I’m… sorry. As soon as I find Sonic, I'll help you find who you're looking for, Silver!”

Silver sighs, shaking his head. “It’s fine, don’t worry.” He glanced upwards to the sky. “This all… looks so beautiful, now that I look at it more. It’s fine to stop and smell the flowers, so to speak.”

_ Even though I have a mission to do. _

“What?” The pink hedgehog squeaks. “You mean this desert?”

Silver felt himself smile, something he hasn’t… done in awhile, actually. When you’re busy with the apocalypse, there isn’t usually anytime to do so.

“Just, Soleanna in general, I guess. Everything is so great here, right? The sky is gorgeous, the air is fresh and everyone's happy…” Silver said, sighing. “The food is quite alright as well.” Of course, after eating a diet of mostly canned foods, anything is good.

“Huh? Yeah, I guess it is.” Amy said smiling. “Oh, by the way, my friend Tails said Sonic was somewhere in the area, so we should still look around here… if you want, of course.” The pink hedgehog explained, looking at Silver.

Silver smiled, again. “Let's go. I'll help you find who you're looking for.”

Amy gave a smile, in return. "Thank you! In return, I'll help you find your girlfriend." She said with a smirk. 

"Girlfriend?"

The pink hedgehog tilts her head. "Y'know, the girl you were looking for."

Blaze. Amy was talking about Blaze.

"She- She's not my girlfriend!" Silver squeaks. "We're just really close, that doesn't mean we're dating..."

_Plus, she's a princess. I could never be with her._

Amy laughed, walking along with Silver. "Haha, _sure!_ "

"I'm serious!" 


	8. A Caged Bird

> _ Dusty Desert, late afternoon. _

Sonic has had a lucky break. Firstly, he found the base Elise was in. Secondly, he  _ found  _ her. Well kinda, he was waiting for Tails to crack the door code -- but he  _ knew  _ he found her, as he actually heard her speaking. To herself. But it wasn’t weird, though. The queen was just… saying things to keep strong. Admirable, honestly.

(And by “crack the door code”, Tails was literally picking the lock. How Eggman didn’t have a better security  _ now,  _ was completely unknown to Sonic.)

“ _ Remember, be brave, Elise… _ ” The queen said, loud enough that Sonic could hear it with his ear pressed against the metal door. “ _ You mustn't cry, no matter what happens… at least, until Blaze is old enough to be a host for the flames… _ ”

The queen… must be telling herself, to be strong. For herself or her country… sonic couldn’t figure out.

“Yes!” Tails says in joy, as Sonic hears the door clicks. He pulled his ear away from the door.

Sonic smiles. “Well, let's give the queen a surprise!” He says, opening the door.

Immediately, when opening the door, Elise was clearly surprised to see someone. Probably because the only person she was seeing was  _ Egghead.  _ “Mr. Sonic!” The queen squeaked politely.

“Just call me Sonic.” Sonic said, as he felt a blush grow on his muzzle. Which wasn’t helped by the fact Elise ran up to hug him. “Now then, you alright?”

Elise smiled as she let go. “I’m sorry, I-I'm just so glad that you came…” She glanced down, now noticing Tails. “Oh, hello!” The queen greeted with a cordial wave. 

Sonic smiled, scratching his head. “Well, haha, I always keep my word.” He then pointed at his little bro. “This is Tails.”

“Sonic!” Tails shouted, pointing past the Queen and well… said Sonic.

Sonic glanced upwards, Elise still holding him… well, still holding his hand.

It was Eggman. Jeez.

“Ohohohoho~!” Dr. Eggman laughed. “It looks like some pesky rats have stuck its nose where it doesn't belong. Well, a hedgehog and fox to be more precise…” He paused. “The Queen is mine until I unlock the secret of the Flames of Disaster!”

“Tails!” Sonic yelled, picking Elise up. He was quite thankful that the girl was  _ so  _ lightweight. (Sonic remembered that the Babylon Rogues had said that most, and if not all, bird mobians had thin bones… but he could be misremembering.)

The fox nodded, running ahead -- which had Sonic running too. “Got it! Let's go!”

> _ Dusty Desert, sunset. _

The desert was boiling hot, which was extreme whiplash from the extremely chilly base that Sonic was just in. Not exactly comfortable for Sonic to be in the hot sun, since he was carrying someone who was almost entirely wearing white.

And… wow, just his luck. Up ahead was a large hoard of Egg Gunner robots, led by a trio of Egg Stingers (god, Sonic was getting  _ sick  _ of the word egg).

Sonic groaned. “How long is this going to go on?”

“I dunno but… well, let's split up. I'll get their attention,” Tails explained before pausing to point at himself, “and  _ you  _ take the Queen.” The fox finished, pointing at Sonic.

Sonic cracked his neck, he could exactly do much at the moment -- holding a girl would  _ severely  _ inhibit his abilities of spin dashing and honing attacking. “Will you be ok?”

“Of course man!” Tails said confidently, with a snort. “I’ve fought  _ waaaaaaay  _ worse things than some Eggman robots-- y’know like Chaos 04, the Battle Kukku Bird Armada, the Music Maker, Witchcart… I can list off more if we had the time.”

Sonic groaned. “Alright, alright, I know. Just… you be careful, alright Tails?”

Tails gave a soldier salute and he started to fly off. “Leave it to me!”

“Hold on tight!” Sonic said to Elise, revving his legs to do a  _ super peel out _ .

Elise nodded. “Um, ok!” She squeaked, grabbing onto Sonic. “But uh, how can you… do that? With your legs?” She mumbles awkwardly, probably talking about how Sonic’s legs were becoming a figure eight.

“Oh, I’m just the fastest thing alive!” Sonic answered, as he boosted away.

Elise buried her face -- well  _ beak  _ \-- into the hedgehog’s neck… and it was… not as sharply painful as Sonic expected.

The desert was fairly 

> ###  An hour later.

Another win for Sonic, as he was far away from the desert to be in a grassy plain. When he makes it to the first hill, he puts the queen down. 

Elise bows. “No words to express how grateful I am for you and friend for helping me... oh my gosh!” The queen squeaks, and grabs Sonic’s left arm.

“You're hurt!” 

Sonic glances at the wound she was talking about and it’s… just a gash on his bicep. He’s received much worse. “Oh, it's really nothing!” He says, blushing. It is kinda nice getting fussed over by a girl. 

“Don't say that. It’s not nothing.” The queen said, shaking her head as she ripped a bit of fabric from her dress. Despite having… feathers for hands, the queen dressed his minor-wound. “I'm… just so sorry. All of this is my fault… and there’s no way for me to repay you...”

Sonic blushed. “Hey, don’t worry about repaying me. Just… smile.” He said, waving his index finger. 

A light blue butterfly flies from… nowhere, landing on his nose. The queen chuckles faintly, lightly flicking the butterfly -- making the butterfly fly off.

“Your smile, Elise…” Sonic repeated, softly, trying to gain composure as Elise finished the dressing on his cut. “That's all I need as ‘payment’.”

He began to walk with Elise in the plain.

“So… Eggman mentioned the Flames of Disaster.” Sonic begins. “Is that why he's after you?”

Elise nods. “Yes. The name of the sun god our country honors is Solaris… in our culture’s religion -- Sol Invictus -- it is told that Solaris's rage,  _ the Flames of Disaster,  _ would destroy the world.” 

Jeez. That reminded him of Chaos… hell, even a little bit of the Biolizard. But… why would Egghead want that?”

“His wrath will always come in the form as the Flames of Disaster. 10 years ago, we almost faced the full force of his fury... I was only a colt* then, so I don't remember it very well. I also lost my father, too…” Elise continued, sounding upset. “And now that man -- Dr. Eggman -- is trying to cause the same disaster again, not realizing what chaos he’ll bring…” She stopped walking. 

God. Eggman was really trying out to destroy the world this time, huh? This was worse than the ARK incident, as that was mostly an  _ accident.  _ But this… this was worse than even Station Square or the Death Egg. 

“And the worse part is... there’s... there’s nothing I can do to stop him.” Elise mumbled. “If he awakens the Flames of Disaster within me-- the ocean will boil and freeze over, the islands will burn and the sky will light ablaze, and then fall…”

Sonic grabbed her wing-hand, which was soft and fluffy to the touch. He really… liked holding it. It was comforting, despite his past experience with birds -- especially bird  _ women  _ (which was just… well, Wave).

And he started to run.

“Sonic? Sonic!” She squeaks, running with him with a slight stumbled. The queen was wearing heels. “Sonic, hey, wait! I can't run that fast!”

He smiled. “Please, don't worry. Just raise your head and run! It’s like my mom would say - ‘ _ Don't just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away _ ’!” 

He runs with her for a bit, until stopping at a point where he can just see Kingdom Valley in the distance.

“Well, that felt great,” He laughed, stretching his arms. “You ok?” Sonic asked, as he sat down next to the queen.

“Yes.” She said with a smile. “And I’m fine, Sonic… I just never ran that fast before…” Elise panted out of breath, letting her wing rest on her chest.

Sonic smiled back. “Nothing starts until you take action. If you have time to worry, then run!”

“Well, um,” The queen paused. “Let’s take action by… going to the town square in Kingdom Valley.” She said, standing up to pat down her dress.

_ Kingdom Valley, late afternoon. _

The Queen stretched her wings out. “I’m glad to be home again.” She glanced down towards Sonic. Which had Sonic realize just how  _ tall  _ Elise was. “By the way, if you want, I can get you something to eat! You must be hungry after all that fighting.”

“What?” Sonic felt himself blush. “Ah, there’s no need for that, Elise.”

She sighed. “Oh, I see. That’s alright.” Elise smiled. “However, when this is all over, I wouldn’t mind having dinner with you! I know you said my smile is all you need as payment, but, I still want to repay you in a more tangible way.” 

Jeez. Elise was just too sweet for her own good.

However, he did have an actual question. “By the way, who’s Blaze?” Sonic asked, before pausing. “You said that name when Eggman kidnapped you.”

“Huh?” Elise chirped. “Oh, that’s my daughter, well, adopted daughter.” She paused. “I found her on the castle doorstep, last year -- around this time of year, actually. I couldn’t just leave a kitten all alone -- if I remember correctly, it was raining… I just couldn’t abandon her.”

Sonic smiled. “That’s awful sweet of you.” He paused. “But why the name?”

“She’s named after the festival we celebrate during November.” Elise pauses. “That was the event that was happening when Eggman kidnapped me, it’s called the  _ Harvest of Blaze _ .”

Sonic pauses. He should have really done more research on this country, huh...

**Author's Note:**

> Silver’s clothing links-  
> https://www.etsy.com/listing/632028537/wool-cape-black-cape-cape-coat-long-cape  
> https://www.aliexpress.com/i/33017762869.html  
> https://www.amazon.com/BaronHong-Binder-Cotton-Tomboy-Lesbian/dp/B06Y6FLPFM 
> 
> Also yeah, Silver is trans in this. Why? Do not matter


End file.
